Vriddy writes

Title: Wishful thinking (1.9k words, rated T, Complete). AO3
Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia
Relationships: Hawks & Original Character(s)
Additional Tags: Burning cities, Heteromorph discrimination, Heteromorph solidarity, Hurt/Comfort, People being nice to Hawks
Summary:

"Some people found out the nature of our village," she said. "And then you showed up. The symbol of everything they hate."

"A hero?"

"Worse," she said with a pained smile. "A successful person with a heteromorphic quirk."

Sometimes, Hawks investigates remote towns and villages, dreaming of a future in which he can live in one, anonymous and at peace. He knows it’s a dream... but he doesn’t expect it to come crashing down on him so quickly.

---

Fukuragawa. The town was new to Hawks.

It probably used to be pretty before the flames swallowed it all up. Before a group of villains or yakuza or who the fuck knew decided that, nah. Couldn't have something this nice, tucked in a small valley, surrounded by mountains and forests that stretched right to the edge of town.

Trees were burning, surging as high as the adjacent office buildings. Not far off, poles heavy with electric lines charred and bent under the flames, groaning ominously. Elsewhere, the Oni ridge-end tile of a temple roof bravely peeked out of the inferno. Like everything tried to stay standing, despite having no hope of survival.

The first thing to go had been the bridge over the pass leading into town, then the communication towers linking the valley to the rest of the world.

No rescue was coming.

Hastily, Hawks scribbled a message and sent it with feathers to the nearest city on the other side of the mountains, but he wasn't sure if anyone would get here on time... or ever. This place was hard to reach, one of the main reasons he’d come to investigate it. A potential escape plan, once his life inevitably came crashing down on him... An empty dream, but he couldn't help himself sometimes, imagining what an impossible “after” might look like for him.

He had barely reached  the town when the fire erupted. Since then, Hawks had dropped his heavy jacket and plunged into the intolerable heat over and over and over, trying to save as many people as he could find.

A young man gave him his bandana to tie over his nose and mouth, and avoid inhaling too much smoke.

Another one tried to throw him into the flames. As soon as Hawks grabbed his hand to lift him up, spikes shot out of his skin, pinning Hawks' arm.

“This isn’t the place for you!” he shouted.

Hawks managed to wiggle out and disentangle himself despite the man fighting him every step of the way, trying to get another hold. Even when the flames completely encircled them and his face distorted in fear, he still fought against Hawks.

Eventually, only feathers could work to take him out and away to safety... on the other side of the town. Not with the people who had obviously been targeted, which seemed to be most of the town residents from what Hawks had gathered. Unfortunately, feathers sent out on their own like this burnt more easily, unable to resist the heat.

He couldn’t keep this up forever.

He had no idea what was going on, except that he was clearly getting in someone's way. Actual fucking fireballs and other ranged quirk attacks kept getting thrown his way as he twisted and turned between the pillars of fire, searching for more people in need of rescue.

The wise thing to do would be to wait for backup. But even if he’d known for sure other heroes with the means to cross the mountains were on their way, Hawks was here now. People were dying every minute he chose to stay still.

So he kept going through the night. Through the fireballs, and burning feathers. Until eventually his wings and agility were so reduced, he had no choice but to face the truth, accept that he could no longer go on. Even if more people still needed help. Like this though, Hawks couldn’t help anyone anymore, and he needed to find water again.

Unhappy but forced to recognise defeat, Hawks flew back toward the villagers huddled in the forest, in an area that the fire hadn’t reached yet. The thick canopy would hide their movements from whoever had decided to target an entire town.

His mind kept replaying the events of the night, every moment and every mistake that cost him feathers too early: if he’d been more careful, more efficient, more strategic... he could have kept going for longer, saved more people.

It wasn’t inattention that cost him. He saw the fireball coming at him the second it left the ground. His tiny wings could only do so much, though. Hawks twisted his body to let it fly past and stopped beating his wings, taking advantage of gravity to drop out of its path with a few inches to spare.

Unfortunately, that was still too close, close enough to scorch his last feathers into uselessness. He didn't have enough left.

Hawks plunged toward the ground.

---

It should have hurt when he fell. It didn't, but Hawks still lost consciousness.

---

He woke up on and off, sometimes hallucinating. His chest hurt and coughing usually dragged him into the realm of awareness before he faltered again. Plenty of water was offered to him whenever he woke up, soothing the pain in his throat, though he felt sore everywhere.

At some point, he realised the warmth keeping him comfortable was a panther heteromorph he was sleeping against and he spluttered an apology, trying to put some space back between them.

"Rest," the person told him. "They're looking for you. You should stay here for now, and keep warm."

Other civilians, a few that Hawks recognised from pulling out of the flames shuffled around the cave. It was daylight outside. Helicopters and heroes who didn't need bridges might have arrived by now, but it would still take them a while to search through the rubble and stop whoever did this.

Hawks should help... but he fell back asleep.

---

The next time he woke up, someone pushed warm miso soup with tofu into his hands. Hawks blindly ate it, the delicious hot food slowly clearing his head.

"What is going on?" he asked.

The elderly woman who'd given him the food had an avian quirk, hair like white feathers framing her face and beak. The years may have marked her but that didn't dilute any of the kindness in her eyes.

"Some people found out the nature of our village," she said. "And then you showed up. The symbol of everything they hate."

"A hero?"

"Worse," she said with a pained smile. "A successful person with a heteromorphic quirk. Many of us who are less visible ended up finding our way here, far away from most of society, hoping to live our lives in peace and quiet." Ah. Not all that dissimilar from what had encouraged Hawks to visit in the first place. "Myself and a couple of the little winged ones tried to stop your fall, but we're not very strong and you were still pretty shaken up. You saved many of us. Now, let us look after you until help comes."

It shouldn't take long, Hawks wanted to say, but the bruises everywhere made him want to doze off again. He should help though, while he could...

Hawks forced himself to stand and immediately realised his ankle had gotten twisted or worse in the fall. With a thump, he sat back on the ground and considered his options. No way to fly. No way to walk.

His ability to help was severely limited.

"I know we don't seem like much," the avian lady said with a self-deprecating smile but fire in her eyes, "but we've kept each other safe for a long time. And right now, this includes you as well. I wish I knew how many others made it to the other hideouts..."

Hawks perked up. "If you describe those places to me, I could send feathers there with a message."

He didn't have many left, but even the smallest ones could do that much. The lady hesitated.

"No," she eventually said with clear reluctance. "If someone sees the direction the feathers come from, they could find you. And us."

"I could take the feather and message away!" a small girl chimed in.

She had an avian quirk pretty similar to the lady who gave him the soup except her feathers were navy blue. She had a bruise on her face and Hawks really hoped that it didn't come from him, if this was one of the "little winged ones" who had helped cushion his fall.

"I won't go all the way, Granny. I can stay hidden in the bushes and then throw it toward the cave so the feather knows where to go."

It didn't take long for the lady – Maeda-san – to relent, and for everyone including Hawks to come together to prepare a message that wouldn't give away their position, in case the other hideouts were compromised. The kids, also all heteromorphs, found ways to hide and scout without going too far or endangering themselves.

Soon, they had a communication system in place, and a fairly good idea of how everyone else was doing.

In the downtimes, other people with some medicinal knowledge also helped to relieve the pressure and pain on Hawks' ankle.

Everyone in this small cave was a heteromorph. Not all avian, but Hawks still felt a kinship he just hadn't expected, so used to deflecting the bird jokes or play on them and do everything he could to pass, to avoid making people uncomfortable, to downplay their differences.

It was unexpected and not at all what he'd expected to find here.

He was surprised at how much he liked it.

Of course, it would have been even nicer if no one was after these people's lives. If Hawks could fly freely with the little chicks, show them some flying tricks. Maybe another time... in another life.

With the system they'd worked out together, it was child's play to support the rescue effort once the heroes showed up. As a group, they directed them away from the civilians at first, focusing on the arrests until finally, finally it was safe to go outside again. It had been nearly 48 hours since the fire first started.

Despite the relief at it all being over, the mood was sombre coming out and looking at the ashes of the town. So much had been destroyed.

It was also time for Hawks to leave and return to his original mission... Even though that would have to be postponed for a bit longer while his wings grew back. The Commission's helicopter was approaching, loud and impossible to miss.

"Well," Maeda said, "I guess we have our work cut out for us. But it's okay. We'll rebuild. And Hawks... you're welcome back any time, under any identity you like. We know how to keep secrets here. Take care of yourself."

For a moment, Hawks wondered if he had been so transparent, but then again it was only his training that stopped him from being overcome with emotions here. He knew better than to let any of that show. Mechanically, he nodded and wished them luck before walking toward the helicopter that would take him away from the disaster. Leave it all behind and never think about it again... theoretically.

He visited these towns in order to dream. He never intended for any of it to mean anything.

And yet...

A tiny sliver of hope he wasn't sure what to do with lodged itself into his heart.

Something suddenly more concrete and more real than his usual daydreams of a future, should he retire or be forced to leave... Something that looked a lot like maybe, just maybe, finding an actual place for himself, a place to be himself, someday.